《新疆的若干历史问题》白皮书
Historical Matters Concerning Xinjiang
中华人民共和国国务院新闻办公室
The State Council Information Office of the People’s Republic of China
2019年7月
July 2019
目录
Contents
前言
Preamble
一、新疆是中国领土不可分割的一部分
二、新疆从来不是“东突厥斯坦”
三、新疆各民族是中华民族的组成部分
四、维吾尔族是经过长期迁徙融合形成的
五、新疆各民族文化是中华文化的组成部分
六、新疆历来是多种宗教并存的地区
七、伊斯兰教不是维吾尔族天生信仰且唯一信仰的宗教
结束语
附件：中国历代纪元简表
I. Xinjiang Has Long Been an Inseparable Part of Chinese Territory
II. Xinjiang Has Never Been “East Turkistan”
III.The Ethnic Groups in Xinjiang Are Part of the Chinese Nation
IV. The Uygur Ethnic Group Formed Through a Long Process of Migration and Integration
V. Xinjiang Ethnic Cultures Are Part of Chinese Culture
VI. Multiple Religions Have Long Coexisted in Xinjiang
VII.Islam Is Neither an Indigenous nor the Sole Belief System of the Uygurs
Conclusion
Appendix: A Brief Chronology of Chinese History
前言
Preamble
中国新疆维吾尔自治区地处中国西北，位于亚欧大陆腹地，与蒙古国、俄罗斯、哈萨克斯坦、吉尔吉斯斯坦、塔吉克斯坦、阿富汗、巴基斯坦、印度8个国家接壤，著名的“丝绸之路”在此将古代中国与世界联系起来，使其成为多种文明的荟萃之地。
The Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region is situated in northwest China and in the hinterland of the Eurasian Continent. It borders eight countries: Mongolia, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India. It was a place where the famed Silk Road connected ancient China with the rest of the world and where diverse cultures gathered.
中国是统一的多民族国家，新疆各民族是中华民族血脉相连的家庭成员。在漫长的历史发展进程中，新疆的命运始终与伟大祖国和中华民族的命运紧密相连。然而，一个时期以来，境内外敌对势力，特别是民族分裂势力、宗教极端势力、暴力恐怖势力（以下简称“三股势力”），为了达到分裂、肢解中国的目的，蓄意歪曲历史、混淆是非。他们抹杀新疆是中国固有领土，否定新疆自古以来就是多民族聚居、多文化交流、多宗教并存等客观事实，妄称新疆为“东突厥斯坦”，鼓噪新疆“独立”，企图把新疆各民族和中华民族大家庭、新疆各民族文化和多元一体的中华文化割裂开来。
China is a unified multiethnic country, and the various ethnic groups in Xinjiang have long been part of the Chinese nation. Throughout its long history, Xinjiang’s development has been closely related to that of China. However, in more recent times, hostile forces in and outside China, especially separatists, religious extremists and terrorists, have tried to split China and break it apart by distorting history and facts. They deny the fact that Xinjiang has been a part of China’s territory where various ethnic groups have lived together, many cultures have communicated with each other, and different religions have coexisted since ancient times. They call Xinjiang “East Turkistan” and clamor for “independence”. They attempt to separate ethnic groups in Xinjiang from the Chinese nation and ethnic cultures in the region from the diverse but integrated Chinese culture.
历史不容篡改，事实不容否定。新疆是中国神圣领土不可分割的一部分，新疆从来都不是什么“东突厥斯坦”；维吾尔族是经过长期迁徙融合形成的，是中华民族的组成部分；新疆是多文化多宗教并存的地区，新疆各民族文化是在中华文化怀抱中孕育发展的；伊斯兰教不是维吾尔族天生信仰且唯一信仰的宗教，与中华文化相融合的伊斯兰教扎根中华沃土并健康发展。
History cannot be tampered with and facts are indisputable. Xinjiang has long been an inseparable part of Chinese territory; never has it been the so-called “East Turkistan”. The Uygur ethnic group came into being through a long process of migration and integration; it is part of the Chinese nation. In Xinjiang, different cultures and religions coexist, and ethnic cultures have been fostered and developed in the embrace of the Chinese civilization. Islam is neither an indigenous nor the sole belief system of the Uygur people. It has taken root in the Chinese culture and developed soundly in China.
一、新疆是中国领土不可分割的一部分
I. Xinjiang Has Long Been an Inseparable Part of Chinese Territory
中国统一多民族国家的形成，是经济社会发展的历史必然。历史上，养育中华民族及其先民的东亚大陆，既有农耕区，也有游牧区等。各种生产生活方式族群的交流互补、迁徙汇聚、冲突融合，推动了中国统一多民族国家的形成和发展。
A unified multiethnic country, China came into being as a result of economic and social development. Historically, the East Asia continent that nurtured the ancestors of today’s Chinese nation had both farming and nomadic herding areas. Different ethnic groups with diverse livelihoods and lifestyles communicated with and complemented each other, and migrated and lived together. They experienced both conflict and integration, and pushed China to move forward and become a unified multiethnic country.
中国历史上最早的几个王朝夏、商、周先后在中原地区兴起，与其周围的大小氏族、部落、部落联盟逐渐融合形成的族群统称为诸夏或华夏。经春秋至战国，华夏族群不断同王朝周边的氏族、部落、部落联盟交流融合，逐渐形成了齐、楚、燕、韩、赵、魏、秦等7个地区，并分别联系着东夷、南蛮、西戎、北狄等周边诸族。公元前221年，秦始皇建立第一个统一的封建王朝。公元前202年，汉高祖刘邦再次建立统一的封建王朝。
Xia, Shang, and Zhou, the three earliest dynasties in Chinese history, emerged successively in the Central Plains, a vast area covering the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River. They integrated with neighboring clans, tribes, and tribal alliances into bigger ethnic groups, called by the joint name Zhuxia or Huaxia. From the Spring and Autumn Period to the Warring States Period, Huaxia groups continued to communicate and blend with neighboring clans, tribes, and tribal alliances, and gradually seven regions – Qi, Chu, Yan, Han, Zhao, Wei, and Qin – came into being. These maintained contact with neighboring ethnic groups such as Yi in the east, Man in the south, Rong in the west, and Di in the north. In 221 BC, the First Emperor of Qin founded the first unified feudal dynasty. In 202 BC, Liu Bang, later known as Emperor Gaozu, set up another unified feudal dynasty – Han.
从汉代至清代中晚期，包括新疆天山南北在内的广大地区统称为西域。自汉代开始，新疆地区正式成为中国版图的一部分。汉朝以后，历代中原王朝时强时弱，和西域的关系有疏有密，中央政权对新疆地区的管治时紧时松，但任何一个王朝都把西域视为故土，行使着对该地区的管辖权。在中国统一多民族国家的历史演进中，新疆各族人民同全国人民一道共同开拓了中国的辽阔疆土，共同缔造了多元一体的中华民族大家庭。中国多民族大一统格局，是包括新疆各族人民在内的全体中华儿女共同奋斗造就的。
From the Han to the middle and late Qing, the vast areas both north and south of the Tianshan Mountains in Xinjiang were called the Western Regions. Xinjiang was formally included in Chinese territory in the Han Dynasty. Later dynasties in the Central Plains, some strong, some weak, kept closer or looser contact with the Western Regions, and the central authorities exercised tighter or slacker administration over Xinjiang. But all of these dynasties regarded the Western Regions as part of Chinese territory and exercised the right of jurisdiction over Xinjiang. Through the long formative process of turning China into a unified multiethnic country, many ethnic groups worked together to develop its vast territories and build the diverse Chinese nation. The unification of multiethnic China was a result of common efforts made by the whole Chinese nation, including the ethnic groups in Xinjiang.
西汉前期，中国北方游牧民族匈奴控制西域地区，并不断进犯中原地区。汉武帝即位后，采取一系列军事和政治措施反击匈奴。公元前138年、公元前119年，派遣张骞两次出使西域，联合月氏、乌孙等共同对付匈奴。公元前127年至公元前119年，3次出兵重创匈奴，并在内地通往西域的咽喉要道先后设立武威、张掖、酒泉、敦煌四郡。公元前101年，在轮台等地进行屯田，并设置地方官吏管理。公元前60年，控制东部天山北麓的匈奴日逐王降汉，西汉统一西域。同年，设西域都护府作为管理西域的军政机构。公元123年，东汉改西域都护府为西域长史府，继续行使管理西域的职权。
In the early Western Han Dynasty, the nomadic Xiongnu people in northern China controlled the Western Regions, and attacked the Central Plains from time to time. After Emperor Wudi took the throne, he adopted a series of military and political responses. In 138 BC and 119 BC, the Western Han government dispatched Zhang Qian as an envoy to the Western Regions, who convinced the Rouzhi and Wusun peoples to form an alliance to fight the Xiongnu. On three occasions between 127 BC and 119 BC, the Western Han authorities dispatched forces that inflicted heavy losses on the Xiongnu. They then set up four prefectures – Wuwei, Zhangye, Jiuquan and Dunhuang – on key passageways from the Central Plains to the Western Regions. In 101 BC, the Western Han began to send garrison troops to transform wastelands to arable land in Luntai and some other places, and appointed local officers to command them. In 60 BC, the Xiongnu king who ruled the areas north of the eastern Tianshan Mountains surrendered to the Han government, which thereby incorporated the Western Regions into Han’s territory. In the same year, the Western Regions Frontier Command was established to exercise military and political administration over the Western Regions. In 123, during the Eastern Han Dynasty, the Western Regions Frontier Command was replaced by the Western Regions Garrison Command, which continued to administer the Western Regions.
三国曹魏政权继承汉制，在西域设戊己校尉。西晋在西域设置西域长史和戊己校尉管理军政事务。三国两晋时期，北方匈奴、鲜卑、丁零、乌桓等民族部分内迁并最后与汉族融合。327年，前凉政权首次将郡县制推广到西域，设高昌郡（吐鲁番盆地）。从460年到640年，以吐鲁番盆地为中心，建立了以汉人为主体居民的高昌国，历阚、张、马、麴诸氏。隋代，结束了中原长期割据状态，扩大了郡县制在新疆地区的范围。突厥、吐谷浑、党项、嘉良夷、附国等周边民族先后归附隋朝。唐代，中央政权对西域的管理大为加强，先后设置安西大都护府和北庭大都护府，统辖天山南北。于阗王国自称唐朝宗属，随唐朝国姓李。宋代，西域地方政权与宋朝保持着朝贡关系。高昌回鹘尊中朝（宋）为舅，自称西州外甥。喀喇汗王朝多次派使臣向宋朝朝贡。元代，设北庭都元帅府、宣慰司等管理军政事务，加强了对西域的管辖。1251年，西域实行行省制。明代，中央政权设立哈密卫作为管理西域事务的机构，并在嘉峪关和哈密之间先后建立安定、阿端、曲先、罕东、赤斤蒙古、沙州6个卫，以此支持管理西域事务。清代，清政府平定准噶尔叛乱，中国西北国界得以确定。此后，对新疆地区实行了更加系统的治理政策。1762年设立伊犁将军，实行军政合一的军府体制。1884年在新疆地区建省，并取“故土新归”之意，改称西域为“新疆”。1912年新疆积极响应辛亥革命，成为中华民国的一个行省。
The Kingdom of Wei of the Three Kingdoms Period adopted the Han system, stationing a garrison commander to rule the Western Regions. The Western Jin Dynasty stationed a garrison commander and a governor to exercise military and political administration over the Western Regions. In the Three Kingdoms Period and the Jin Dynasty, the Xiongnu, Xianbei, Dingling, and Wuhuan in northern China moved inland and finally integrated with the Han ethnic group. In 327, the Former Liang regime spread the system of prefectures and counties to the Western Regions and set up the Gaochang Prefecture in the Turpan Basin. From 460 to 640, the Uighur Kingdom of Gaochangcentered in the Turpan Basin and with the Han people as the main population was ruled successively by the Kan, Zhang, Ma, and Qu families. The Sui Dynasty ended the long-term division of the Central Plains, and expanded the areas in the Western Regions that adopted the system of prefectures and counties. The Turk, Tuyuhun, Dangxiang, Jialiangyi, Fuguo and some other ethnic groups submitted to the authority of the Sui. In the Tang Dynasty, the central government strengthened its rule over the Western Regions by establishing the Grand Anxi Frontier Command and the Grand Beiting Frontier Command to administer the Western Regions. The ruling clan of the Kingdom of Khotan (232 BC-AD 1006) asserted that it was related by blood to the emperor of the Tang Dynasty and changed its surname to Li, the surname of the Tang emperor. In the Song Dynasty, local regimes of the Western Regions paid tribute to the Song. The king of Uighur Kingdom of Gaochanghonored the Song emperor as “Uncle” and called himself “Nephew in the Western Regions”, while the Kara-Khanid Khanate (840-1212) sent envoys many times to pay tribute to the Song court. In the Yuan Dynasty, the central government strengthened administration over the Western Regions by establishing the Beiting Command and the Pacification Commissioner’s Office to manage military and political affairs. In 1251, the system of administrative provinces was adopted in the Western Regions. In the Ming Dynasty, the imperial court set up the Hami Garrison Command to manage local affairs, and then set up six garrison cities – Anding, Aduan, Quxian, Handong, ChijinMengu, and Shazhou – between the Jiayu Pass and Hami to support local administration. In the Qing Dynasty, the imperial court quelled a rebellion launched by the Junggar regime, defining the northwestern border of China. It then adopted more systematic policies for governing Xinjiang. In 1762, the Qing government established the post of Ili General and adopted a mechanism combining military and political administration. In 1884, it established a province and renamed the Western Regions as “Xinjiang”, meaning “land newly returned”. In 1912, as a response to the Revolution of 1911, Xinjiang became a province of the Republic of China.
1949年中华人民共和国成立，新疆和平解放。1955年成立新疆维吾尔自治区。在中国共产党领导下，新疆各族人民同全国人民共同团结奋斗，新疆进入历史上最好的繁荣发展时期。
In 1949, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) was founded, and Xinjiang was liberated peacefully. In 1955, the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region was established. Under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, all ethnic groups in Xinjiang united and worked with other groups across the country, opening a period of unprecedented prosperity for the region.
在长期的历史进程中，中国疆土既有割据时期又有统一时期，统一与割据交替循环，国家统一发展始终是主流方向。同中原地区不同时期曾经存在诸侯国或割据政权一样，新疆地区也多次出现地方政权割据情况，但不论这些政权割据时间有多长、局面有多严重，最终都走向重新统一。历史上，西域不同时期曾经存在的“国”，包括城郭诸国、行国、封国、王国、汗国、王朝、属国、朝贡国等形态，无论是汉代西域三十六国，还是宋代喀喇汗王朝、高昌回鹘王国等，元代察合台汗国，明代叶尔羌汗国，都是中国疆域内的地方政权形式，都不是独立的国家。即便是地方割据政权，也都有浓厚的中国一体意识，或认为自己是中原政权的分支，或臣属于中原政权。宋代著名历史文献《突厥语大词典》将当时中国分为上秦、中秦和下秦3部分，上秦为北宋，中秦是辽朝，下秦为喀什噶尔一带，三位一体为完整的秦。在《长春真人西游记》中汉人被称为桃花石，相应在《突厥语大词典》词条里，回鹘人被称为塔特·桃花石，也有的直译为中国回鹘人。在喀喇汗王朝钱币上，常有桃花石·布格拉汗、秦之王以及秦与东方之王等称呼，标示是中国的一部分。
In the long history, Chinese territory has experienced periods of division and unification, but unification and development have always been the overall trend. Small kingdoms or separatist regimes existed in the Central Plains in different periods; similarly, Xinjiang also witnessed several local regimes dividing the region. Nevertheless, no matter how long these regimes divided Xinjiang and however serious the situation was, the region was ultimately united. In different periods in Xinjiang there were city-states, nomadic states, princedoms, kingdoms, khanates, vassal states, tributary states and some other forms of local regime, such as the 36 states of the Western Regions in the Han Dynasty, the Kara-Khanid Khanate and the Uighur Kingdom of Gaochang in the Song Dynasty, the Chagatai Khanate in the Yuan Dynasty, and the Yarkant Khanate in the Ming Dynasty. But these were all local regimes within the territory of China; they were never independent countries. These local regimes had a strong sense of national identity, and acknowledged themselves as branches or vassals of the Central Plains authorities. A Comprehensive Dictionary of Turkic Languages, written by Turkic scholar Mahmud al-Kashgari in the 11th century, states that China (often referred to as Qin in ancient times) was composed of three parts, namely Upper Qin (the area of the Northern Song Dynasty), Middle Qin (the area of the Liao Dynasty), and Lower Qin (the area of the Kara-Khanid Khanate). In the Travels to the West of Master of Eternal Spring QiuChuji, the Han people were called the Tavghaq; and in A Comprehensive Dictionary of Turkic Languages, the Uighur people were called Tat Tavghaq, or the Uighurs of China. The coins of the Kara-Khanid Khanate were often inscribed with such titles as TavghaqBughra Khan, King from Qin, and King from Qin and the East to indicate that the khanate was part of China.
二、新疆从来不是“东突厥斯坦”
II. Xinjiang Has Never Been “East Turkistan”
突厥是6世纪中叶兴起于阿尔泰山地区的一个游牧部落，于552年消灭柔然汗国，建立突厥汗国。583年，突厥汗国以阿尔泰山为界，分为东、西两大势力。630年，唐朝发兵击败东突厥汗国。657年，唐朝联合回纥灭西突厥汗国，中央政权完全统一西域。682年，安置在北方的东突厥部众反叛唐朝，一度建立了后突厥汗国政权。744年，唐朝与漠北回纥、葛逻禄等联手平定了后突厥汗国。回纥首领骨力裴罗因功被册封为怀仁可汗，在漠北建立回纥汗国。突厥作为我国古代的一个游牧民族，也随着汗国的消亡于8世纪中后期解体，并在西迁中亚西亚过程中与当地部族融合，形成多个新的民族，新的民族与古突厥民族有本质区别。从此，突厥在我国北方退出历史舞台。
The Turks (Tujue in Chinese) were nomads who originated in the Altai Mountains in the middle of the 6th century. The Turks annihilated the Rouran and established a Turkic khanate in 552, which split into two forces, settling on either side of the Altai in 583. The Tang Dynasty defeated the Eastern Turkic Khaganate (583-630) in 630, and joined forces with the Ouigours to eliminate the Western Turkic Khaganate (583-657) in 657, thus uniting the Western Regions under central rule. In 682, the remnants of the Eastern Turks that were relocated in the north rebelled against the Tang court and established the Second Turkic Khaganate (682-744). This was quelled by the Tang in 744 with the help of the Ouigour and Karluk peoples in Mobei (the area north of the vast deserts on the Mongolian Plateau). Kutlug Bilge Khagan, leader of the Ouigours, was granted a title by the Tang court, and established a khanate in Mobei. In the late 8th century, the nomadic Turks dissolved as its last khanate collapsed. They mixed with local tribes during their migration to Central and West Asia, but these newly formed peoples were fundamentally different to the ancient Turks. Ever since then, Turks have disappeared from China’s northern regions.
中国历史上从来没有把新疆称为“东突厥斯坦”，更不存在所谓的“东突厥斯坦国”。18世纪至19世纪上半叶，随着西方对阿尔泰语系突厥语族各种语言的划分，一些国家的学者和作家频繁使用“突厥斯坦”一词，指代天山以南到阿富汗北部，大体包括新疆南部到中亚的地域，并且习惯以帕米尔高原为界，将这一地理区域分为“西突厥斯坦”和“东突厥斯坦”。19世纪末20世纪初，“泛突厥主义”“泛伊斯兰主义”思潮传入新疆以后，境内外分裂势力将这个地理名词政治化，将其内涵扩大化，鼓噪所有使用突厥语族语言和信奉伊斯兰教的民族联合起来，组成政教合一的“东突厥斯坦国”。所谓的“东突厥斯坦”论调，成为境内外民族分裂势力、国外反华势力企图分裂中国、肢解中国的政治工具和行动纲领。
Never in Chinese history has Xinjiang been referred to as “East Turkistan”, and there has never been any state known as “East Turkistan”. From the 18th century to the first half of the 19th century, as the West made a distinction between the various Turkic languages (branches of the Altaic languages), some foreign scholars and writers coined the term “Turkistan” to refer to the region south of the Tianshan Mountains and north of Afghanistan, which roughly covered the area from southern Xinjiang to Central Asia. They called the two areas on either side of the Pamirs “West Turkistan” and “East Turkistan”. At the turn of the 20th century, as “Pan-Turkism” and “Pan-Islamism” made inroads into Xinjiang, separatists in and outside China politicized the geographical concept and manipulated its meaning, inciting all ethnic groups speaking Turkic languages and believing in Islam to join in creating the theocratic state of “East Turkistan”. The advocacy of this so-called state has become a political tool and program for separatists and anti-China forces attempting to split China.
三、新疆各民族是中华民族的组成部分
III. The Ethnic Groups in Xinjiang Are Part of the Chinese Nation
中华民族的形成与发展，是中原各族和文化同周边诸族和文化连续不断交往交流交融的历史过程。先秦时期的华夏族群，经过长期与周围族群的多元融合，特别是经过春秋战国500余年大动荡的交汇与融合，至秦汉之际，进一步与周围族群融合为一体，形成以中原人口居多的汉族，并从此成为中国历史进程的主体民族。魏晋南北朝时期，各民族尤其是北方少数民族向中原大迁徙，出现了大融合的局面。13世纪元朝建立，规模空前的政治统一局面推动了规模空前的民族迁徙，形成了元朝境内广泛的民族杂居局面。中华各民族在长期发展中，最终形成大杂居、小聚居的分布特点。多民族是中国的一大特色，各民族共同开发了祖国的锦绣河山、广袤疆域，共同创造了悠久的中国历史、灿烂的中华文化。
Historically, the Chinese nation was formed and developed through cultural communication, exchanges and integration between peoples in the Central Plains and in other regions. The Huaxia people who appeared in the pre-Qin period, after years of integration with various other peoples, and especially after 500 turbulent years of cultural convergence in the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, further integrated with other peoples in the Qin and Han dynasties to form the Han people, a majority group in the Central Plains and the major people in Chinese history. In the period of the Wei, Jin, and Northern and Southern Dynasties, different peoples, especially the northern ethnic minorities, migrated on a large scale to the Central Plains, resulting in further ethnic merging. In the 13th century, with the founding of the Yuan Dynasty, an unprecedented level of political unification gave rise to unprecedented ethnic migration, leading to various ethnic groups living together within the Yuan territories. After this long historical process, different ethnic groups of China eventually settled among each other, with compact communities here and there. Multiethnicity is a prominent feature of China. Together, the ethnic groups of China have explored the country’s rich resources and vast territories, and have created a long history and a splendid culture.
新疆地区自古就同中原地区保持着密切联系。早在商代，中原同西域就有玉石贸易。汉代张骞“凿空西域”打通丝绸之路，使者相望于道，商旅不绝于途。唐代“绢马互市”持续繁盛，“参天可汗大道”直通内地，沿途驿站星罗棋布，成为西域先民同中原密切联系的纽带。于阗乐、高昌乐、胡旋舞等西域乐舞深入宫廷，长安城流行西域风。出自今新疆库车的龟兹乐享誉中原，成为隋唐至宋代宫廷燕乐的重要组成部分。近代以来，在中华民族面临生死存亡的危急关头，新疆各族人民同全国人民一道，奋起反抗、共赴国难，共同谱写了可歌可泣的爱国主义篇章。新中国成立以来，新疆各民族关系进入平等、团结、互助、和谐的新时期。
Xinjiang has been in close contact with the Central Plains since ancient times. As early as the Shang Dynasty, the Western Regions traded jade with the Central Plains. In the Han Dynasty, imperial envoy Zhang Qian opened up the Silk Road, along which emissaries and merchants traveled. In the Tang Dynasty, merchants from the Central Plains and the Western Regions “traded silk and horses”, and a “grand thoroughfare” connected the Western Regions directly to Chang’an, the Tang capital, with courier stations along the way. Music and dances from Khotan, Gaochang and other places in the Western Regions were performed in the Tang court, and the exotic cultures of the Western Regions were popular in Chang’an. The music of Qiuci (today’s Kucha, Xinjiang) enjoyed great fame in the Central Plains, and became an important component of court music in the Sui, Tang and Song dynasties. In modern times, at critical junctures of the Chinese nation, the ethnic peoples in Xinjiang have fought alongside the rest of the country with great patriotism. Since the founding of the PRC, ethnic relations in Xinjiang have entered a new era characterized by equality, solidarity, mutual help, and harmony.
新疆自古以来就是多民族聚居地区。最早开发新疆地区的是先秦至秦汉时期生活在天山南北的塞人、月氏人、乌孙人、羌人、龟兹人、焉耆人、于阗人、疏勒人、莎车人、楼兰人、车师人，以及匈奴人、汉人等。魏晋南北朝时期的鲜卑、柔然、高车、嚈哒、吐谷浑，隋唐时期的突厥、吐蕃、回纥，宋辽金时期的契丹，元明清时期的蒙古、女真、党项、哈萨克、柯尔克孜、满、锡伯、达斡尔、回、乌孜别克、塔塔尔族等，每个历史时期都有包括汉族在内的不同民族的大量人口进出新疆地区，带来了不同的生产技术、文化观念、风俗习惯，在交流融合中促进经济社会发展，他们是新疆地区的共同开拓者。至19世纪末，已有维吾尔、汉、哈萨克、蒙古、回、柯尔克孜、满、锡伯、塔吉克、达斡尔、乌孜别克、塔塔尔、俄罗斯等13个主要民族定居新疆，形成维吾尔族人口居多、多民族聚居分布的格局。各民族在新疆地区经过诞育、分化、交融，形成了血浓于水、休戚与共的关系。各民族都为开发、建设、保卫新疆作出了重要贡献，都是新疆的主人。目前，新疆共生活着56个民族，是中国民族成分最全的省级行政区之一。其中，超过100万人口的有维吾尔族、汉族、哈萨克族和回族4个民族，超过10万人口的有柯尔克孜族、蒙古族2个民族。新疆地区既是新疆各民族的家园，也是中华民族共同家园的组成部分。
Xinjiang has been a multiethnic region since ancient times. The earliest explorers of Xinjiang included the Sai, Rouzhi, Wusun, Qiang, Qiuci, Yanqi, Khotan, Shule, Shache, Loulan and Cheshi peoples living in the Tianshan Mountains and the Xiongnu and Han peoples in the pre-Qin, Qin and Han dynasties. Following them were peoples of the Han, the Xianbei, Rouran, Gaoche, Yeda, and Tuyuhun in the period of the Wei, Jin, and Northern and Southern Dynasties; of the Turk, Tubo, and Ouigour in the period of the Sui and Tang dynasties; of the Khitan in the period of the Song, Liao, and Jin dynasties; of the Mongol, Jurchen, Dangxiang (Tangut), Kazak, Kirgiz, Manchu, Xibe, Daur, Hui, Uzbek, and Tatar in the period of the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties. Large numbers of various ethnic groups entering Xinjiang in different periods brought technology, culture and ideas, folk customs, and many other aspects of their lives into the region, promoting economic and social development through exchanges and integration. They were all explorers of Xinjiang. By the end of the 19th century, 13 ethnic groups – the Uygur, Han, Kazak, Mongol, Hui, Kirgiz, Manchu, Xibe, Tajik, Daur, Uzbek, Tatar, and Russian – had settled in Xinjiang, with the Uygurs having the largest population. Ethnic groups had grown, developed and integrated with each other despite periods of isolations and conflict, and shared good fortune and hardship in a close relationship. All of them have made important contribution to exploring, developing and protecting Xinjiang, and they are all masters of Xinjiang. Currently inhabited by 56 ethnic groups, Xinjiang is one of the provincial-level administrative regions with the most ethnic groups in China. The Uygur, Han, Kazak and Hui have populations of one million and above, and the Kirgiz and Mongol have populations exceeding 100,000. Today, Xinjiang, home to various ethnic groups, is an integral part of the Chinese nation.
新疆地区民族关系的演变，始终和中华各民族关系演变相联系。各民族有隔阂冲突更有交流融合，团结凝聚、共同奋进始终是主流。包括新疆各民族在内的中华各民族，分布上交错杂居，经济上相互依存，文化上兼收并蓄，情感上相互亲近，形成你中有我、我中有你、谁也离不开谁的多元一体格局，是一个大家庭里不同成员的关系。在中华民族大家庭中，新疆各民族手足相亲、守望相助，休戚相关、荣辱与共，共同生产生活，抵御外来侵略，反对民族分裂，维护祖国统一。
The evolution of ethnic relations in Xinjiang has always been linked to that between all ethnic groups in China. There have been periods of isolation and conflict, but exchange and integration, and unity and joint effort have always been the prevailing trend. The ethnic groups of China, including those in Xinjiang, live together alongside each other. They are economically interdependent and embrace each other’s culture, and are a unified whole that has become impossible to separate. They are members of the same big family. In this family of the Chinese nation, the ethnic groups in Xinjiang are like brothers and sisters who work and live together and help each other out. They have guarded against foreign aggression, opposed separatist activities, and safeguarded national unification.